All Megan could hear was her breathing and the pounding of her heart. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, before pulling out her wand and stepping forwards. It was still light enough for her to see, so she didn't need the Light spell yet. She pushed forwards, but after about ten minutes, she stopped. She hadn't seen a single obstacle, yet... and it worried her... just then, a thrash of leaves behind her made her spin around, wand raised...

"Cedric!" she said.

He stopped, panting. His robes was singed at the sleeve.

"What happened?" she asked.

He saw where she was looking and raised his singed sleeve.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts..." he said. "They're huge, I only just got away."

Megan had a small smile.

"That's Hagrid, for you..." she said.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't run into anything yet." She said. "You?"

"All limbs present and correct," he smiled.

Megan couldn't help but smile back.

He meant to speak, and so did she. They looked at each other, smiling nervously.

"I'd better keep going." Cedric said.

"Yeah, me too..."

But neither could move. Then, Cedric stepped forwards and kissed her. Megan kissed him back just as fervently.

"I'll see you later," he said.

"Yeah."

And they headed off their separate ways. Shortly after, Megan turned a corner, and froze.

A Dementor stood before her. A good eight feet tall, it moved towards Megan, its rotting hands poking out of his shabby black robes. Megan was in no trouble to find a happy memory: The day she and Cedric had first kissed.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silver phoenix shot out of her wand and knocked the Dementor backwards... but something about the way it fell bothered Megan. Then, she realised why.

"You're not a Dementor! You're a Boggart! Riddikulus!"

It turned into Malfoy with a pig snout, and Megan laughed. The Boggart vanished, and she pushed on as the phoenix faded away. Megan sighed, wishing it could have stayed. She would have liked the company.

Oh, get a grip! You're used to being alone, aren't you?

Yes, but since she had found out how good it was not to be, she found it ten times harder to go back to it. Megan breathed deeply, and performed the Four-Point Spell, which indicated that she was in the right direction. She was hurrying along a path when she heard an ear-piercing scream. It sounded like Fleur.

"Fleur?" she called, running in the direction she thought the voice had come from.

She made a sharp right and turned another corner before skidding to a halt. In front of her was a Skrewt. Cedric had been right, they were huge. It looked like a giant scorpion, and was ten feet long.

"Stupefy!" she yelled.

The spell bounced off. Megan jumped aside to avoid a blast of fire from its end. But it turned and started to move towards her. Megan stepped back, and fell over.

"Impedimenta!"

It faltered but didn't stop. Trying not to panic, Megan shouted:

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The spark hit its target. Megan saw the Skrewt freeze inches from her. She had hit its weak point. Panting, she scrambled to her feet, not knowing how long the spell would hold, and slipped past it. She ran forwards and turned left. She reached a fork and paused, panting from the run. She was just thinking of using the Four-Point spell again when she heard Cedric's voice nearby.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Crucio!" called a voice Megan recognised as Krum's.

And then, the air was filled with Cedric's yells. Megan's blood turned.

"CEDRIC!" she yelled.

She turned to the hedge and shouted:

"Reducto!

It made an opening just big enough for her to push through. Cedric was writhing and convulsing on the ground. Krum was pointing his wand at him, and looked up as she arrived.

"Impedimenta!" she yelled before he could do anything.

Krum flew backwards and lay on the ground, knocked out. Megan dropped to Cedric's side.

"Cedric! Cedric, say something, are you all right?"

"... Yeah... I don't believe it... I thought he was okay..." he gasped.

"I know," Megan said, frowning in confusion. "Me too..."

How had he used the same magic they did when he had never studied it? She was fairly sure they didn't use the same spells in Durmstrang...

"What happened to you?" Cedric asked, eyeing her hand.

It was scrapped and stung, now that he pointed it out.

"Skrewt." Megan said. "Did you hear Fleur?"

"Yeah. She's over there. She's okay, just knocked out."

Megan glanced at her, lying on the ground. Just then, they heard a noise behind them. Krum had got to his feet and shouted a spell she didn't recognise.

"Look out!" Cedric shouted.

He pushed Megan aside and yelled:

"Expelliarmus!"

Krum's wand flew out of his hand. Cedric was about to cast another spell but Megan saw Krum's eyes. They were wide and blank. Megan then realised how he'd used magic he supposedly didn't know. She leapt forwards and pushed Cedric's arm out of the way.

"Don't! He's bewitched, Cedric! Look at him, he's not himself!"

Cedric glanced at him. Krum had frozen when she had stepped in the way. They both watched him, Megan standing in front of Cedric, somehow sensing he wouldn't touch her. His eyes were veiled with white. Just then, his eyes returned to normal and he slumped to the floor. Megan crouched and checked his pulse. He was alive.

"D'you think he'll be okay...?" she asked Cedric.

"I think so," Cedric answered, briefly examining him too. "His heartrate's steady, his breathing's strong. He's young and healthy, he should be fine."

"We'd better get them some help." Megan said.

Cedric nodded and in one movement they raised their wands upwards. They spoke the spell as one.

"Periculum!"

And red sparks shot up to the sky.

"Okay, then... we'd better move." Cedric said. "Or they'll think we're forfeiting."

They looked at each other: they were friends, and a couple but in this moment they were opponents. They exchanged one more kiss and headed in opposite directions.

Megan walked on, the last few moments etched in her mind. She couldn't believe what had happened. Who had taken over Krum like that? And why? Using the Cruciatus Curse was enough to send him for life to Azkaban... Whoever had done it couldn't have wanted the Cup that badly... could they? Megan had to be honest, she would be pretty happy to get it, but... she would never hurt another to do so... she stopped a second.

"Calm down..." she told herself. "You can't think about this now, there is plenty to worry about in this maze."

She set off again, and then ran into a huge creature she had seen in her Monster Book of Monsters. A sphinx. It had the body of a huge lion, great paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, on the other hand was one of a woman's. She turned her face to Megan, who gripped her wand, hesitant. She didn't appear to be poised for attack....

"You are near your goal," she said in a deep voice. "The swiftest way is past me."

"And how do I do that?" Megan asked calmly, knowing the sphinx wouldn't move.

"Answer my riddle, is all you need do. Answer correctly, and I will let you through. Answer wrong, and I will attack. Say nothing, you may step back."

She was spreading all over the space of the path, blocking Megan's way. Megan bit her lip, thinking. Hermione was good at these, not her... Though, if she heard the riddle, maybe she could answer... and if not, then, she could walk away and find another path, even if that meant risking losing.

"Okay... can I hear the riddle?" She asked, finally.

The sphinx sat down and recited:

First think of a person who lives in disguise,

Who deals in secrets but speaks naught but lies

Next tell me what is always the last thing to mend,

The middle of the middle and the end of the end?

And finally give me a sound often heard

During the search for a hard-to-find word.

Now string them together, and answer me this:

What creature would you be unwilling to kiss?

Megan frowned, deep in thought. She reread the lines, having scribbled them down as she had heard them. Megan could think of quite a few things she wouldn't kiss... she took a deep breath, and began trying to decipher the clues.

"A person who lives in disguise and tells naught but lies... an impostor?... but he deals in secrets... a spy...?" she whispered to herself.

She put it up in a corner of her mind and moved to the next lines.

"Always the last thing to mend... I can't think what that is... the middle of the middle, and the end of the end..."

This part stumped her and she decided to go back to it, when she had figured out the last part.

"The sound often heard when you're looking for a word... hm... that would be... er... wait... er! Of course, that's what you say when you can't find a word! So... spy... er... the middle of the middle... last thing to mend... end of the end... all the words have the letter d..."

And then it hit her.

"Hang on a second, that's it! D is always the last letter to the word mend, and end, and it's the letter in the centre of the word middle! So, spy ... d ... er... and a creature I wouldn't kiss, a spider!"

The sphinx smiled and stepped aside. Megan smiled back, thanked it, and hurried forwards. Then, she used the Four-Point spell, before turning up the path on her right. And stopped abruptly. There it was, a few dozen feet before her. The Triwizard Cup.